


My soul keeps calling, but yours won't answer

by BlackPrism



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Swapfell, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Soulmates, Souls, a bit - Freeform, also a bit, reader is in a coma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 10:13:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13005549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackPrism/pseuds/BlackPrism
Summary: Papyrus knew life just loved to kick him in the ass.He was ok with it. Maybe he deserved this?But as he saw your still form, just lying there, unmoving,he started to doubt that anybody deserved this.





	My soul keeps calling, but yours won't answer

**Author's Note:**

> Sappy title is sappy lmao.
> 
> Contest prize for me-and-my-gaster on Tumblr.  
> They wanted a continuation of a short prompt about a comatose soulmate, for SF papyrus.  
> Added the prompt here too, so it makes...well, sense.
> 
> Also on Tumblr: https://bonelynomore.tumblr.com/post/168508450595/contest-prize

**Prompt:** Papyrus brother urged him to finally, get a small cough, that has been bothering him for months now, checked out.  
And when Sans urges you to do something, you won’t be able to just say no. So there he was, sitting in the waiting room, a strange feeling in his soul.

He tried to ignore it, but you can’t ignore your soulmate calling out to you. And he get’s actually excited. He has a soulmate! A soulmate! Him!  
He felt... actually happy for the first time in so long, he can't help but follow the feeling.  
He was afraid at first, he isn’t exactly a wonderful member of society. He isn’t really a good skeleton or a good person in general. But he has to at least see you, maybe you felt the same, maybe you…

He stops dead in the doorway, his soul dropping and shattering. Or at least that’s what it felt like to him. You are in a bed, in a coma, nobody has any hope that you will wake up.

He laughs bitterly, before leaving. Of course. Of course, life has to give him another kick in the ass.

He tries to forget about you, but weeks later he is sitting in the chair next to your bed, just wanting to be near you. At least that. 

To at least see you next to him, even if you will never look back.

\---  
Papyrus was...not happy.  
He went to your hospital room every day.  
And every day, you were just....lying there. Not moving. Not responding. Not anything. Just breathing, at least you were breathing, completely still otherwise.

The staff in the hospital was used to him after a while, he stays there every day for hours after all. He honestly couldn‘t leave since the moment he gave into his soul screaming out for yours for the first time. He gave in, and now he was in this mess. Just staying here to soften the ache in his soul, but the more often he was near you, the worse it got.

He was pretty pathetic, alright. Pouting in somebody‘s hospital room, day, after day, after day.  
At least some of the nurses where nice. Giving him leftover jello, or a blanket. 

Not that he deserved one. Life has shown him more than once already, that he apparently doesn‘t deserve good things.  
Papyrus sighed, sitting in the chair next to your bed again, leaning into a more comfortable position.  
What was he even doing here...?

\---

He wasn‘t much better at home, draping himself over furniture, sulking in different parts of the house.  
Sometimes he stared out of the window, face sombre and melancholic. 

It could have been funny, probably still looked funny from the outside. But not to Papyrus, his soul hurting more with every day, whenever he was away from you.

Soulmates souls were supposed to connect, calling out to each other to connect, creating a band between two or more people. It was how things went, soulmates being the most compatible partner, so the soul created a connection between those people. It made things easier, you felt more comfortable around each other. So much simpler to get to know each other that way.

And if it didn‘t work out, the band disappeared again. You could still be friends, you could be best friends, you could even become a couple. But you weren't bound to each other for the rest of your life.

But when your soul called out to another, you had to form a bond. It was just how things went. You couldn‘t fight it, almost like scratching a very bad itch.

If you didn‘t, your soul would just keep calling, keep pushing itself to the limit to get you close enough to your soulmate.  
Something that usually wasn‘t too much of a problem. After all, it was just a one-time thing. You soul called, you met your soulmate, the bond was created. You would be exhausted, but it would be over and done with, in no time.

You soul only called out when your soulmate was close by, too. So no problem with having to travel far and wide to meet them. It usually was over in a few hours, top. Not long enough to put any real strain on neither human nor monster.

But apparently, no soul expected for one of them to be in a coma, unable to form a bond, or even do...anything at all. Their soul was asleep like they were, not responding, not glowing, not calling out to bond with Papyrus‘s.

So Papyrus did what he usually did. Give up and sulk.

Sans let him pout like this for a few weeks before he lost patience. Which is admirable, considering that Sans had no patience at all, to begin with.

„BROTHER! THAT‘S ENOUGH!“

Papyrus was hanging upside down from the couch, face on the floor. Alright, maybe this was a bit overdramatic.  
Papyrus only moaned slightly in response.

„DON‘T MOAN AT ME YOUNG MAN! YOU GO THERE EVERY DAY, JUST TO SIT THERE AND POUT! AND THEN YOU COME HOME AND POUT HERE TOO! THIS CAN‘T DO BROTHER!“

Papyrus sighed.

„CAN YOU USE YOUR WORDS?“

Papyrus hummed.

„SIGH.....FINE. BUT AT LEAST DO SOMETHING WHILE YOU ARE THERE! YOU COULD...READ TO THEM!“

Papyrus made a droning sound, getting more high pitched at the end, like a question.

„YES! AND YOU CAN LEND ONE OF MY BOOKS, OR...WELL, TAKE ON OF YOUR SCIENCY ONES.“

Papyrus made an affirmative sound.

„ALSO PLEASE REMOVE YOUR BOOKS FROM MY BOOKCASE. YOU HAVE ENOUGH SPACE IN YOUR ROOM FOR THEM!“

Papyrus made no noise.

„YES...IT‘S GOOD TO TALK TO YOU TOO BROTHER...“

Sans huffed and walked into the kitchen, while Papyrus grinned to himself for the first time in weeks.

\---

„hey buddy, got you some fairy tales today. Hope you like them  
...my bro isn‘t really a fan of them, but hey, maybe your taste in stories is different.“

Papyrus walked into the hospital room, feeling instant relief wash over his soul as it stopped dragging him towards his soulmate. The unpleasant feeling has turned into a constant, dull pain.  
But Papyrus pretended that it wasn‘t there. He didn‘t want to worry Sans.

Papyrus plopped down on the chair, the nurses not moving it back to where it previously stood anymore. It was his visiting chair now. Only his. Nobody else visiting you, not even once.

Papyrus shook his head.

„hey..soo...how about some red riding hood? always liked that one.“

He read to you almost every day now. Sometimes he opted for knitting in silence. Or other things he usually did, after work and before his brother came home. 

But today he felt like reading to you again, and Sans was starting to discard Papyrus‘ books from the bookshelf and throw them into Papyrus‘ room...so hey, shorter way to actually get a book.

Papyrus dragged out the last few words, imitating a grandmas, high pitched voice.

„the end ~“, Papyrus chuckled to himself. Ha...imitating voices, an underappreciated art.

He closed the book, looking at his watch. Hm, Sans should be home soon, Papyrus should get back soon.  
He got up and stretched, placing the small book into a pocket of his jacket.

„well, see you tomorrow pal.“

His soul started screaming the moment he took his first step out of the room. Great. Wonderful.  
Then the pain came back, dull throbbing, but still bearable. Papyrus walked, the more distance there was between him and you, the worse he felt.

„ah, fuck it..“

Papyrus teleported, he just wanted to get home, sit down, catch his breath.

The moment he reappeared into existence, a sudden, sharp, strong pain washed over him, knocking him out cold immediately.

Of course. Why not another ass kick from life, not like he already had enough for 10 lifetimes or more.

\---

Papyrus woke up and immediately had the urge to claw his soul out of his body with his bare hands.  
God, it hurt.

A burning, sharp, throbbing feeling, radiating from the core of his entire being, into every limb in his body.  
He rolled onto his side. Hu, he was in his bed....wait, no he didn't have sheets. Only a ball of creased bed sheets he never used.  
This was his brother's bed.

„PAPY! Can you hear me now? Are you awake?“, San voice was...softer. Not quite a whisper, but close. Papyrus mumbled something in response, too preoccupied with his soul, which seemed to tear itself apart. Or shatter. Man, he would really appreciate that right now, dusting sounded like something way better than this goddamn pain all over his body.

„I was so worried, you just collapsed in the living room! What happened? Where you attacked?!“

Sans was still afraid of him getting attacked by strangers, like back in the Underground. Well, Papyrus sometimes expected it himself, both were just too used to it.

„mhh....i think my soul got fucked up or somethin‘..“, Papyrus pressed his teeth together, balling his fists as another wave of pain rushed through him.

„WHAT? BUT YOU SAID IT WAS JUST AN UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING! WHY DIDN‘T YOU TELL ME THAT IT HURT!", Sans shouted, making Papyrus flinch. Too loud, why did his brother have to scream like that?

„shh, bro...not so loud....i..i dunno. didn‘t wanted to worry you..and it‘s better when i‘m...there..so..no reason to panic.“

Sans huffed, mumbling curses under his breath.

„FINE! THEN YOU WILL STAY THERE UNTIL WE CAN FIX THIS!“

„wait...what?“

\---

Papyrus had been at the hospital for three days now, and he was really getting bored.  
He was given a bed in the same room you were in, an exception for this special case since you were in the unit reserved for coma patients. His soul was being monitored all hours of the day, doctors poking and prodding him every few hours.

He spends the first-day napping, the second napping and reading to you. The third one...he was actually feeling pretty awake. Hu, did he finally sleep enough to be...rested? Interesting feeling. Now he was glad that he got something that helped him sleep at night here.

He stretched himself, wondering if he could sneak out of a few minutes and get his knitting needles. Probably not without collapsing again..ugh.

Well, reading it is again.

„hey pal, only 80 pages left, are you excited?“

You didn‘t react.

„well, me neither but lets get this over with...last time i‘m letting Sans pick a book..“

He read. And read. And turned a page. And read.

And froze.

His soul leapt with pure ecstasy, Papyrus leaning backwards against the wall, letting the feeling wash over him with closed eyes. He has never felt this good in his life, and he doubted anybody else ever had either.

The feeling was gone after a few moments, but something was different. His soul was calling to him again, screaming, pushing, shouting.

Papyrus turned his head to look at you.

You looked back.


End file.
